Key West

Literary icons, loggerhead turtles and legendary sunsets

This side of the Florida Keys dances to its own beat – with a laid-back boho spirit, artistic soul and definite buzz. Its clapperboard ‘conch’ buildings are draped in bougainvillea – and 19th-century Presidential villas in American flags. Its golden beaches are home to both surfers and sea turtles, the latter coming ashore to nest. While Ernest Hemingway’s Whitehead Street house is now occupied by a clowder of cats. Follow in his footsteps to Sloppy Joe’s for Key Lime pie, live music and neon lights. Then join the nightly sunset celebration at Mallory Square – staying up late to see the moonflowers bloom.

Things to do

CULTURE
Over time, the who’s who of American society and culture have been residents of Key West. Follow a Streetcar Named Desire to the Tennessee Williams Museum, where you can almost hear the tap of the acclaimed writer’s original typewriter. Or catch a show at the theatre bearing his name. The sun also rises each day on the Hemingway Home and Museum, where six-toed cats prowl the boxing ring turned swimming pool. Magnificently restored during the 1930s, it’s now a National Historical Landmark. 

WATER
Day trippable Dry Tortugas is an almost entirely water-based National Park – a remote archipelago best reached by seaplane. And best explored with a scuba mask. Dive into one of the world’s largest and most spectacular reefs, where nurse sharks and loggerheads weave around the bows of shipwrecks. Return at dusk to dive the moat wall at night, following a sashaying octopus or two into a rarely seen underwater world. Though only 1% of the park is above water, that’s where you’ll find a landmark in its truest sense: 19th-century Fort Jefferson. 

BEACHES
Enjoy the golden age at Key West’s beautiful beaches. Fringed parasols pepper the sands, fishing lines hang from West Rock jetty and hammocks are strung between trees. Fort Zachary Taylor is the perfect springboard for snorkelling, as colourful parrotfish dart between the coral. Away from the sands, discover this coastal site’s civil war past – where you’ll find both cannons and cookout grills along the fort. Just be sure to stay for one of the Atlantic Ocean’s most spellbinding sunsets. If you’re lucky, you’ll catch the ‘green flash’, a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it celestial phenomenon.

Top Tip from SLH

When touring Hemingway’s house, look for the coin pressed into the ground poolside. The story goes that the disgruntled water embedded it into the cement, declaring it the last penny he had.